Sugar and Spice…And Poop

Menu

Post navigation

Crafty

Evie comes home from preschool almost every day with the cutest little things she’s made. Last week, she made a Native American baby that slipped inside its own papoose stitched together with black yarn. Evie called it a “caboose”. She’s also made a turkey out of farfalle pasta and an itsy bitsy spider that slid up and down his water spout via a straw affixed to the paper. I tape all of her creations to the wall at the top of the staircase, right above her alphabet stream of letters that runs down the stairwell. Glued to each letter is an item that starts with that letter.

Evie takes great pride in the things she’s made. Whether it’s a coloring page she’s attacked with a rainbow scribble of colors or a construction paper lantern in the shape of a spider, she thrusts each one at me, awaiting praise and admiration. I know I’m supposed to show discretion, to make much over the ones that are really good and make suggestions for the lesser ones, but I have a hard time doing that. I also have a hard time throwing away all the million pieces of paper filled with various shapes, mutated-looking “animals”, glue smudges and pieces of wrinkled tape. I do, of course, because, you know, clutter. But I wish I could save every one.

The legitimate crafts she makes I do keep. Each “caboose” and spider and each this and each that I save. I imagine myself going through them after she’s all grown up, examining each one, touching all the places her little fingers touched. Weeping like a banshee. I’m also keeping them for Evie. I want her to be able to see herself growing up through them, to match up her class picture with something she created or a piece of schoolwork she did that year. I think that would be pretty neat.

I’d like to start assembling a sort of “craft closet” for Evie at home. Jen at The Short Years described in one of her recent posts all the various crafty stuff she’s collected for her girls and how much fun they have making their masterpieces with it. I think Evie and would have fun with something like that. Especially since Evie’s still at the age where she thinks anything I draw is nothing short of brilliant. I drew a pineapple the other day that took her to another place.

So what should I start collecting for our craft closet? Any suggestions? What sort of stuff will give the me the most bang for my buck? Also, what’s the best way to clean up dried glue stick in the carpet? Marker off the couch? Oh, and just so’s you know, we are a strictly anti-glitter household. Been there, done that. Still vacuuming it up.